If any of you have been stuck at the border between the UK and the EU at the Channel ports, Eurotunnel or Eurostar, or at European airports this holiday season, there is some bad news – you ain’t seen nothin’ yet.
Next year is likely to be hell on wheels in Kent, and elsewhere, with queues of more than 14 hours. Because the Brexit border, the real border that the EU is now introducing because we are no longer members, will soon be up and running.
It will be harder and tougher, more intrusive, more expensive, and it will take longer.
The new border comes in two forms: the EES, which is the European Union’s electronic entry and exit system; and the Etias – the electronic visa that we are all going to have to get in future in order to enter the EU.
EES simply stands for “Entry/Exit System” of the EU, the new way foreigners can get in and move around inside the EU. It replaces manual stamping of the passports of “third country nationals” – that means us – with the electronic monitoring of each entry and exit into the EU and the length of stay. There will no longer be any way of dodging the rule that you can only stay for 90 of every 180 days.
The EES will come into effect on 10 November with, assuming this first step goes smoothly, the Etias arriving late in May 2025. The Etias will cost €7 and will last three years. For those under 18 or over 70, will still need to apply for and hold an Etias, but it will be free
But that secure and paperless border will require more checks, which will take longer. So, when the scheme is up and running, around November, you will have to register: time and date of entry and exit; place of entry and exit; traveller’s name; passport number; a photograph; fingerprints. Yes, we are all going to have to be fingerprinted before we can get into the EU.
Emma Brennan, head of media and communications at the Association of British Travel Agents, said: “There is the potential for delays – especially if people have not been processed in this way before. But it will depend on what the set-up is like at your arrival airport – whether they have the facilities to get people through quickly.” Which means EES will probably make the travel experience considerably worse.
The other issue is that, although most checks will be done on arrival in the EU, some will have to be done before departure, mainly at St Pancras for the Eurostar, Folkestone for Eurotunnel and at the Port of Dover. All of these have been built in crowded areas – fitting in the post-Brexit checks has already been a real struggle. These new ones are going to cause even more trouble, and be very expensive.
The Port of Dover will have to process coaches separately from cars. It probably has little choice – fingerprinting an entire coachload of passengers is going to take ages and be a real pain. The port will direct coaches to its western area where new halls will have to be built to process coach passengers. Once checked, passengers will have to re-board coaches and be “sealed in” until they have left the country. This process was described to me by Peter Bradley, managing director of UKCOA, the trade body for coach operators, as “interesting, to say the least”.
It certainly doesn’t sound like a recipe for a smooth experience, and the longer the delays, the bigger the problem.
As Bradley explains, “Having a delay that misses a boat is one thing, but, if it is longer, the driver is out of hours, and cannot drive.” Which means the coach will just have to wait for a new driver or for the driver to have his statutory rest.
The Port of Dover says it will eventually reclaim a dock from the sea to create more space to process its passengers; not a cheap option. It is also advising coach parties to have enough food and drink on board, just in case.
Eurostar is investing £8.5m at St Pancras, and is having to build three new registration areas with almost 50 kiosks a few yards from its current check-in area.
Eurotunnel has gone even further, building a brand-new drive-through zone with room for 60 cars at a time, with CCTV and two static kiosks per car to complete facial and fingerprint checks. Total cost: £68m.
This is all likely to start happening in November this year, so long as the EU can get the technology working. It may be delayed if they can’t, but it will happen at some point. The results are likely to be dreadful delays.
Kent’s county councillors have written to the home secretary warning that the introduction of EES will make the awful traffic problems in Kent much worse. They have commissioned their own research and its conclusions are the stuff of nightmares. As the letter warns, in one weekend at the start of the summer holidays in July 2022 tourists and lorries were stuck at the approaches to Dover and Eurotunnel for more than 14 hours, and “initial data analysis… suggests that the impact of introducing EES checks on tourist traffic crossing the channel is expected to be much worse and will occur on a regular basis.”
Also on its way is Etias, the European Travel Information and Authorisation System. For a €7 fee and a bit of form filling you get a visa that lets you enter the EU at any time in the next three years. That is expected to begin next year. Everyone will need a visa and will be turned away at the border without one.
Travellers will also be asked about criminal convictions.
Finally, let us not forget that there are other border checks and tests to come, covering product safety, as well as animal and plant welfare. These are a precondition for the EU agreeing to any new talks with the UK. They will also add to delays at the border.
So, enjoy your summer holidays… thanks to Brexit, next year’s are likely to be more expensive and involve more red tape, checks, form filling, and far, far longer queues and delays.
